World in brief

Turkey says ID of bomb drivers may come soon

ISTANBUL, Turkey - A brief, blurry image of a pickup driver's face, taken before a security camera went dead. A bit of flesh stuck to a steering wheel. Apparent connections between Turks and underground Islamic groups.

Investigators scrutinized these and other clues Monday to determine if al-Qaida was behind the near-simultaneous suicide truck bombings at two Istanbul synagogues Saturday that killed 22 worshipers and passers-by and wounded more than 300.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu told the Associated Press that the drivers were not identified, although investigators appeared to be closing in. An unconfirmed TV report said the attackers were two Turks, one with extensive bomb training in Iran.

"We may have an announcement tomorrow," Aksu said when asked about the report by the private Turkish station NTV.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that DNA test results on the suspected drivers, which could establish identities or at least help establish ethnic backgrounds, were expected today.

SEOUL, South Korea - Nervous about its chief ally, South Korea won assurances from the United States on Monday that a planned shift of U.S. troops away from the border area with North Korea will not lessen America's commitment to help repel any invasion by the North.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told top South Korean government officials in a series of meetings that he believes a pullback from the Demilitarized Zone will strengthen the U.S. defense.

JERUSALEM - A senior Egyptian mediator reached agreement with Palestinian leaders on Monday to start cease-fire talks among militants within two days, Palestinian officials said.

Nabil Aburdeineh, the top aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said Arafat had approved plans by the Egyptian mediator, Omar Suleiman, to send a delegation to Gaza within 48 hours to begin discussions among the militant factions.

In a kind of parallel, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in Rome on Monday that he might meet with his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Qureia, "in the next few days." The two leaders would be renewing top-level talks that halted in August.

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